What are the barriers for career change for nurses?

Quickbeam, BSN, RN · Nov 27, 2007

I'm a 20 year, second career RN. I'll take a stab at this.

It is my opinion that a lot of people who get their RN license and then hate it lack a lot of skills or credentialing to do anything else. I think this is especially true if they don't have a 4 year degree or other work experience. Over my clinical years I saw a lot of people just dreading walking through the door each night yet they couldn't figure out what to do with their license. More specifically, they couldn't figure out what they could do that would pay the kind of money hospital nursing does. In my state, most of the nurses I worked with made more money than their spouse, if they had one. There was a lot of pressure to keep on earning that wage.

I think there is flexibility within nursing. The people I went to school with have all left nursing and are selling real estate, yachts or married money.

Hospital nursing employs a set of skills. Many of those aren't that transferable to the corporate world. A nurse with excellent writing skills and an ability to work in an office setting can find all kinds of other jobs.

2bNurseguru · Nov 27, 2007

Thanks.

Those barriers make a lot of sense. In other words, it would take longer training for a nurse to make the same money in another career as compared to being a nurse.

Why don't nurses explore careers like Infomation Technology which can earn you up to $20 an hour with 2 years training, and then pursue to a Bachelor's level on a part time basis. This is one of the top 25 careers of 2005. Surprisingly, nursing is also at the top 25.

happydays352 · Nov 27, 2007

IT is being outsourced and it is a competative field right now. There is no shortage of IT people so they may have trouble finding a job. My bf works in IT and he has made between 13-18 an hour with only a high school education. However, most of the jobs he lost due to outsourcing. Plus IT has its own problems in terms of the work enviroment.

That said I think a lot of nurses do leave this field, the ones that stay need the job security and pay that nursing provides. Other jobs do not pay as well, are more difficult to obtain, and may be lost because of outsourcing or other economic forces.

llg, PhD, RN · Nov 27, 2007

Thanks.
Why don't nurses explore careers like Infomation Technology which can earn you up to $20 an hour with 2 years training, and then pursue to a Bachelor's level on a part time basis. This is one of the top 25 careers of 2005. Surprisingly, nursing is also at the top 25.

Because most nurses are earning a lot more than $20 per hour and they don't want to take a dramatic pay cut. Most nurses don't want to invest in a 2 year education that will qualify them for a job that pays far less than they are making now.

Also, we see a lot of people from the IT industry coming into nursing these days because they can't find good jobs in their own field -- particularly if they are over 40 years old. The IT field is famous for preferring young people over older people. Those "former" IT folks also come to nursing saying how little personal satisfaction they got in that field. While they may be unhappy with their nursing jobs, most nurses want to be in a field in which they get personal satisfaction from helping people.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Nov 27, 2007

Why don't nurses explore careers like Infomation Technology which can earn you up to $20 an hour with 2 years training, and then pursue to a Bachelor's level on a part time basis.

I'm an LVN who earns $20 hourly. I know numerous RNs who earn greater than $30 hourly. If the RN lives in a high cost-of-living area such as NYC or San Francisco, they typically earn greater than $40 hourly. If you're accustomed to earning a certain amount of money to maintain a specific lifestyle, you cannot simply switch to a lower-paying career pathway.

showbizrn · Nov 27, 2007

Like the song goes, MONEY HONEY. :lol2:

Sure, you can switch careers.

Sure, you can re-train, re-educate yourself in another field.

Sure, you can inactivate your RN LICENSE and never work in nursing again.

But when you look at that FIRST PAYCHECK...

Sounds gloomy?

After 25 years of nursing and a nice 6-digit annual salary...

La-la-la la

Hey, hey, hey...

I ain't goin' nowhere!

:monkeydance:

showbizrn.

Xbox Live Addict · Nov 27, 2007

I'm a 20 year, second career RN. I'll take a stab at this.
Hospital nursing employs a set of skills. Many of those aren't that transferable to the corporate world. A nurse with excellent writing skills and an ability to work in an office setting can find all kinds of other jobs.

That is an issue I ran up against when I wanted to leave. After all, your prospective corporate clients just aren't going to need a Foley or an IV from you. Even the fact that nurses have to develop serious customer-service skills in order to deal with irate patients and families doesn't count for jack. Most nurses learn how to resolve complaints on the job, it's not like we all just give pt/family with complaints the finger and tell them to f%*# off. Unfortunately, the business world does not see things in that way.

I also think a lot of them have the mindset that there's something fishy going on if a nurse doesn't want to practice in the field for which they went to school.

And, as every other poster here has pointed out, it's hard to take an entry-level job with entry-level wages, when you are accustomed to much larger paychecks. The pay scale in Oklahoma is among the worst in the country, so you don't take as much of a hit here , but you do take a bad hit. And this works against you too, as many employers are looking at your long-term plans, and wondering whether you'll rebel against the pay cut you'd take to work for them to go back to nursing, costing them more money to hire and train a replacement.

IT is not a good field right now since it is being heavily outsourced to India (and even India is worrying now about its IT industry being gutted by China). It's relatively easy to find a job in nursing, due to the shortage. However, you would also do well to look at the underlying reasons WHY there IS a nursing shortage in the first place. More than 1 in 4 licensed nurses across the country no longer practices nursing!

I eventually did find a good healthcare job, in a plasma center, where I have better pay, real benefits, and daytime hours, but it took me 5 years to do so (7 if you count my 2 years as a CNA in addition to 5 years as a nurse.) I have always wondered what happens to a physician when they get as burned out as I was, either during practice, or worse yet, while they're still in medical school. You're pretty much stuck there, unless you want to flush years and thousands of dollars worth of medical education down the toilet. Are there any physicians who are working in fields other than medicine?

Guest717236 · Nov 28, 2007

I'm a 20 year, second career RN. I'll take a stab at this.
It is my opinion that a lot of people who get their RN license and then hate it lack a lot of skills or credentialing to do anything else. I think this is especially true if they don't have a 4 year degree or other work experience.

Not always true. Nursing has had a history of rigidity for

professional growth.

While obtaining a BS in Management I also took pre nursing

courses. When I had all of the requirements done and excellent

grades I was laughed at by the Dean of Nursing for not

being "dedicated" to Nursing. No amount of trying to tell

her about the exciting and soon to emerge field for designing

computer systems for nurses was entirely dismissed.

I was not admitted to the second (clinical) part of the program.

It was my business professors who had insight and vision,

not the nursing department. My business Dean strongly recommended I

apply for the MBA program. I chose nursing.

I received a Diploma in Nursing and practiced over 25 years

and loved it. Never pursued a BSN .

Have now retired and moved on from nursing.

This post is not to challenge any forum member, but given

to inform the original poster of the reason some individuals

do not pursue an "advanced" degree.

And to the OP- Somes NURSES and the profession hold back nurses from career goals.

lindarn · Nov 28, 2007

Not always true. Nursing has had a history of rigidity for
professional growth.
While obtaining a BS in Management I also took pre nursing
courses. When I had all of the requirements done and excellent
grades I was laughed at by the Dean of Nursing for not
being "dedicated" to Nursing. No amount of trying to tell
her about the exciting and soon to emerge field for designing
computer systems for nurses was entirely dismissed.
I was not admitted to the second (clinical) part of the program.
It was my business professors who had insight and vision,
not the nursing department. My business Dean strongly recommended I
apply for the MBA program. I chose nursing.
I received a Diploma in Nursing and practiced over 25 years
and loved it. Never pursued a BSN .
Have now retired and moved on from nursing.
This post is not to challenge any forum member, but given
to inform the original poster of the reason some individuals
do not pursue an "advanced" degree.
And to the OP- Somes NURSES and the profession hold back nurses from career goals.

Years ago, diploma nurses did not have an opportunity to earn any actual credit for any of their classes. If nurses wanted to go back to school to get their BSN, or pursue another career, and they needed a college degree, they had to start all over with nursing fundamentals. To talk to nurses who did go back and get a degree, it was almost with glee that they talked about the impediments to nurses going back to school.

It wasn't until the early 1970's, that diploma schools started to add college credit to the program, like A&P, Chemistry, Psychology, etc. Most nurses did not even know how to type. Where exactly where nurses to go and do with those kind of challenges? It is almost the same now, except that most nurses are at least getting college credit from their ADNs, and it is alot easier to move to a four year college degree.

And as someone pointed out above, nursing classes do not translate easily to other type on non- medical programs. Nurses are boxed into a corner with nor business classes, or background for another type of program.

That is, by the way, why I have encouraged nurses to seek these kind of classes after graduation. And why I have been pushing a BSN as entry into practice. At least a nurse has a four year degree, and can move more easily into something else. And to include other classes in the basic degree, as "quality of life" classes. There is no time in a diploma program, or ADN program for this. As it stands now ADN programs are taking some nurses four years to complete.

If nurses started out with a four year degree, if they are not happy, they can more easily change careers. That, by the way, is exactly what hospitals don't want. They want nurses to stay as indentured servants, unable to move into something else if they don't want to stay at bedside nursing. It is nothing more than a trap. Think about that the next time that you put down the BSN programs.

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN

Spokane, Washington

SICU Queen · Nov 28, 2007

Thanks.
Those barriers make a lot of sense. In other words, it would take longer training for a nurse to make the same money in another career as compared to being a nurse.
Why don't nurses explore careers like Infomation Technology which can earn you up to $20 an hour with 2 years training, and then pursue to a Bachelor's level on a part time basis. This is one of the top 25 careers of 2005. Surprisingly, nursing is also at the top 25.

I don't do this because $20 an hour is half of what I currently make.

Shantas · Nov 28, 2007

I am a diploma holder RN. I would also like to get a BSN and perhaps masters but at this time of life I am not able to persue higher education its because I need a steady income.

But then again when I really think hard I tell myself why should I spend another year of my life going to school as I am already making good money. If I continue to do what I am doing now, I will not only earn over $50/hr within another 5 yrs so but also be able to save enough money for my retirement. Where will I get a job that will pay me $50/hrs with great benefits after completing 3 yrs of schooling....no where!!!

Therefore as much as I find it nerve recking sometimes to work as a RN but I will do it as long as I need to:)